Friends In Ramen

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

When I first came to Osaka, there was little to no information about ramen in Osaka in English. I started this blog to fix that, by documenting my own experiences eating in Kansai. Now it's time for the next step.

Presenting Osaka Ramen Route!

Osaka Ramen Route is a ramen stamp rally: a simple event where you get a bowl of ramen at five different shops, collect stamps, and earn a certificate proving your ramen mastery. It's running from now through July, so check out the site, eat some ramen, and post about it with #ramenroute!

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

日本語は英語のあと！tl;dr: Here's a list of great Osaka ramenWelcome to Friends in Ramen, the mad ramblings and reviews of a ramen-obsessed New Yorker who has somehow found himself in Osaka. I've created this blog for foreigners in Osaka who want to eat good ramen, English speakers abroad who want to eat vicariously in the great east, or anyone else who wants to stop by.

I've tried to keep my ramen shop reviews in a consistent format; there's locational information along with a photo of the outside of the shop, and tags describing the style and location. If you're looking for something particular, give it a search, or otherwise browse with pleasure!

If you're still reading this and haven't scrolled down to the wonderful pictures of rich salty broth below, here are some good places to get started on the blog:Best Ramen in Osaka - A list of my favorite shops in Osaka, sorted by type and location

The ramen map - a (near) exhaustive list of the ramen shops I've eaten at in Japan

Enjoy Friends in Ramen!ラーメンの中毒があるなんとなく大阪にいちゃったニューヨーカーが書いている「Friends in Ramen」というブログにようこそ！元々外国人のためにブログを作りましたけど、日本人もラーメンが好きな外国人の意見に興味あるかなと思っていたので、日本語も書くようにしています。日本語はけっこうむずいので、ミスとかあればすみません。いろいろな店で食べたことあるので、もし「こんなスープを飲みたいな」と考えたら、タグとかで検索してください。あとは、適当に楽しんでください！このテキストをまだ読んでいたら、下記にあるリンクを叩いてみてください：

The Bowl
And the only thing I was surprised about was how closely resembled the bowl I had had years earlier. The soup was a bit on thin side, with a light seafood flavor and slow-building spice. The thick, rope-like noodles were a pleasure, and the soup hid some flavorful chunks of chashu.

The Bowl
The first experience I had in tasting the bowl was the milkiness of the white broth, along with the thin oil coating it. The flavoring itself was standard tonkotsu, and inside were Hakata-style thin, al dente noodles. The chashu was salty and strong; good in small quantity but I would have had trouble with any more. Overall this was a creamy take on run-of-the-mill tonkotsu.

Monday, October 15, 2018

This time I made a trip to Takatsuki, to visit out-of-the-way shop Saishoku Ramen Kinsei Mufu. Brian from Ramen Adventures happened to be in town, so we made the trip together. I ordered the standard shio ramen, while Brian ordered the special version with smoked chicken.

The Bowl
This was a light and solid shio; not too salty, and easy to drink along with the slurpable, flat noodles. It stood side-by-side with other branches of Kinsei I've visited, and other high quality shio ramen, but the regular shio ramen didn't stand out beyond that. The smoked chicken, on the other hand, was great. The meat itself had a perfect amount of smokey aroma, and when it was mixed in, it took the soup to another level.

Sunday, September 30, 2018

There's a shop in Ame-Mura that has changed hands many time. It was most recently Takumi Ichiban Ramen, but since then for some time it has remained as Mensho Shinoyama Ramen. I finally made my visit, and ordered the shoyu Shinoyama Ramen.

The Bowl
At first the broth was a sweet, feathery-light shoyu. The bowl came with a dollop of yuzu miso, though, which transformed the bowl into a richer yuzu experience. The noodles themselves were slightly too thick for the shoyu, and were much better with the yuzu mixed in. The chashu was nothing special, but the sweet bamboo shoots were an interesting change of pace from the normal menma.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Well before I moved to Osaka I had heard a rumor about a strange ramen shop. This shop was supposed to be an Al Pacino themed shop. I know, it makes no sense, but I found it. Following my heart and going with the spicy choice, I ordered the aka Paci ramen at Aru Paci Ramen.

The Bowl
I wasn't expecting much of this ramen, and what I got met my expectations. The broth was oily and tasted like liquid shichimi, which is not too bad all things considered. The noodles were medium and curly, and the chashu was pretty standard. There was some motsu in my bowl that was a fun, unusual touch.